One Harbor Church | Morehead City, NC

• Donnie Griggs
• Oct 18, 2012
• Series: Church Profiles
• Categories: Church Planting Articles, Latest News

Briefly describe your story of your call to plant a church

In June of 2008, my wife & I came from California for a week long trip in Eastern North Carolina to help with a youth leadership training time and to visit friends in my hometown of Morehead City.  We ended up running into a bunch of friends and catching up on life.  Before the trip was over, we were feeling a desperate sense of a large group of people in need of Christ and a church where they could come to know, grow, and glorify God together.  Quite to our surprise, we were captivated by the many people who “were like sheep without a shepherd” and started to have an overwhelming sense that God was calling us to this place and these people.

Months went by with lots of praying and seeking godly counsel, until on a Sunday evening in early October of 2008, we came back from California to North Carolina and met with three young married couples for dinner together.  We started sharing what God had been speaking to us about starting a church with them and they all confirmed that they had been praying since June that we would hear God to come and lead them. 

My wife and I made the move from Southern California to North Carolina to start and lead One Harbor Church at the end of January of 2009.  We started on Superbowl Sunday, February 1, 2009, with 17 adults and 2 children and met in the living room of Matt and Sam Barts’ home for One Harbor’s first official gathering.

How did you build up your core? What advice would you give to guys in the core-stage?

I say what seems to now be the obvious- start with men. I'd also add to not build time & energy into guys who have a pre-set agenda as they will most likely never abandon it to get on board with what you are building. I'd say that if someone looks too good to be true, they probably are. If they tell you about the gifts & talents they bring to the table the first day; beware. If they drop their ministry experience & education in the first conversation, they probably want a paycheck, not a church to serve in. If you have a gut-check about them that causes wariness, trust it because it's probably the Holy Spirit, not pizza.  I'd say, build slow! Be very slow to bring guys through as leaders; especially if you need leaders badly.  Like the old saying goes, "the worst time to buy a car is when you need one;" the worst time to bring through leaders is when you need them. Your need for them can blind you to real red flags that will cause you more pain in the end. 

As for how we started, we started with a lot of focus on the men by going through the Band of Brothers HBO documentary watching one episode a week & then doing a leadership teaching afterwards.  This helped to distill into the men who were gathering a sense of comradery, leadership & mission.  

We also gathered together the couples that were helping us lead & made sure they had good Gospel foundations.  We felt that, as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3, understanding Jesus as a foundation was the first step necessary before they could become leaders.  I came from a very leadership driven culture, but if we aren't careful, leadership can supercede discipleship.  Leadership is a massive idol in America & it's absolutely a massive one in the American Church.  Be aware of this tendency.  Only a strong foundation of the Gospel & Grace can help guys work through the true reason why we serve, lead, etc... 

To work through the foundations of the Gospel, we took Isaiah's experience in Isaiah 6 where he "saw the Lord" for who He really was, recognized his own sinfulness & need for atonement & then begged to be on mission, "here am I, send me" & worked that through again & again with all of our people.  We wanted a core team & leaders who firstly were amazed at how "high & exalted" God was. Were secondly aware of their own sinfulness & need for grace.  And thirdly were, as a result, desperate to live lives that were given to seeing others transformed by the Gospel.

What advice do you have for men who are wrestling with the decision to plant? 

Wrestle with it until you can't do anything else or find something better to do with your life.  I know that this sounds so cliche, but if you can do anything else; do anything else.  This has been the hardest 3 1/2 years of our lives.  There's been a million times I've dreamed of selling used cars or cutting lawns because I thought it would be easier. But at the end of the day, I'm convinced that God called me to plant this church & I'll give my life to seeing it happen.

What’s the most important thing you’d want to share with a new church planter?   

Get the best theological foundation you can get. Be patient. Build slow & steady. Be ready for God to mess up all your plans again & again. Don't do it alone. Find real relationships with people who can be your peers & lead you.

Outside of the Bible, what is the most helpful book you have read for church planting?

I really enjoyed Patrick's book, "The Church Planter" & would recommend it highly. Christless Christianity by Horton was super helpful in preparing me for where different people could be at regarding the Gospel depending on their various backgrounds. I know this isn't the question, but Driscoll's podcasts from "Be Radical & Plant Radical Churches" was something I listened to over & over & Keller's & Clowney's 32 part podcasts on, "Preaching Christ in a Postmodern World" was something else that truly helped me plant strong Christologically. 

Honestly though, it sounds a little unorthodox, but "We Were Soldiers Once & Young" by Moore was super helpful in thinking though leading through various scenarios, maintaining morale in tough times & preparing people to bring through leaders & be good followers.

Church Profile: One Harbor Church
Launch Date: February 2009
Location: Morehead City, NC

Mission, Vision, Values of Church 

"All For The Sake of The Gospel, We Are Making Disciple-Making Disciples"

One Harbor Church is a community that exists because of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We are committed to continually learning more about the Gospel, being changed by the Gospel, & living lives that glorify God by the power of the Gospel.

What are some examples of God's grace that you have seen in your life and/or the life of your church?

We have seen a lot of salvations resulting in baptisms, & discipleship from the second week we started.  It seems that we have really been given much grace in regards to buildings as well.  We've seen God's hand in every step of the journey.  We are now stepping out & starting another site/campus.  This is something that h

How can we pray for you?

Pray that we stay faithful, humble & healthy. We want to see more than "much fruit," we want to see, "fruit that remains." Pray Philippians 1:27 for us please, "Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel."  No matter how far down the road we are in this church plant, we want this to be said of us, that we are still standing side by side for the faith of the Gospel.  Thank you so much for your prayers.